Sublets in Rehavia, Jerusalem

To the north, Rehavia borders Nachlaot and Sha'arei Hesed; to the south, Talbiyeh and Kiryat Shmuel. At its eastern tip is Kikar Tzarfat (France Square), which many call Kikar Paris, where King George, Keren HaYesod, Agron, Ramban and Ben Maimon Boulevard meet.

The neighbourhood was built in stages. Rehavia Aleph, the first part, was bounded by King George, Ramban, Ussishkin and Keren Kayemet streets, and from there it spread south, to Jabotinsky and Balfour and on to HaTibonim and Ben Saruk. Azza Road runs the length of it: it starts at Ben Maimon, drops to the edge of the Valley of the Cross and carries on from there as Herzog Street.

The land belonged to the Greek Orthodox Church and was leased in 1922 to the Palestine Land Development Company, and Richard Kauffmann, a German-born Jewish architect, drew up the plan: a garden neighbourhood in the spirit of Europe's garden cities, on International Style principles. The first house, Eliezer and Thelma Yellin's, went up in 1924 at 14 Ramban Street.

The aim was quiet. The streets meant for cars were deliberately built narrow, and a green boulevard crossing the neighbourhood from north to south was set aside for pedestrians. The story goes that even the curves are on purpose: a charm against demons and evil spirits. From the 1960s some streets became major traffic routes, so how quiet it is today depends on which street the apartment is on.

Inside the neighbourhood stand the National Institutions buildings, with Heichal Shlomo and the Great Synagogue next to them, and Beit Levi Eshkol, which served as the Prime Minister's residence from 1950 to 1974. Today's residence, Beit Aghion, is near the top of Azza Road.

The International Style is common in the neighbourhood; on Azza Road most buildings are in that style and clad in Jerusalem stone. Since the 1960s many houses have had extensions and extra floors added, and there is almost no free land for new construction, so you will most likely live in an older building. In recent years quite a few buildings on Azza Road have been renovated or rebuilt, so ask whether any work is planned in the building or next door.

Israel only made a protected space mandatory in every new building after the Gulf War, by which time Rehavia's first houses had stood for more than sixty years. In an old building without a safe room (mamad), ask the host where the shelter is, and if there isn't one, what the most protected spot is: sometimes the internal stairwell. And an elevator? In an older building it is far from guaranteed, so ask about the floor too.

From Ramban Street it is about 1.7 km on foot to Jaffa Gate, via Agron and Mamilla, and about 2 km to the entrance of the Hebrew University's Givat Ram campus, via Ruppin. The Red Line stops on Jaffa Road, Jaffa Center and HaDavidka, are also about a kilometre and a half away on foot.

On average about 700 buses a day run along Azza Road. On Keren HaYesod and King George, on the neighbourhood's eastern side, there is a public transport lane, and the Blue Line is now being built on it. Work began in September 2025, the stops planned on this stretch include Kikar Tzarfat and Shmuel HaNagid, and according to the published timetable the stretch from Gilo to the city centre is expected to open in 2029. Until then, bus routes around the works may change, so don't rely on an old route.

From the start this was a neighbourhood of intellectuals and professionals (in 1936 it counted 56 doctors among its 988 residents), and it kept drawing academics, mostly from the Hebrew University. According to 2018 figures, about a third of residents are aged 20 to 35, largely thanks to the students who live there, and since the 1990s modern Haredi olim, mainly from the United States, have moved in and are now a sizeable part of the population. There are plenty of long-standing synagogues, among them Yeshurun, the HaNasi synagogue and Horev.

Now, no sugar-coating. Rehavia is expensive: apartment prices here are high. Coming by car? Talk parking through with the host in advance, because the streets were built narrow on purpose. On Azza Road you will hear buses and cafés, and Kikar Paris and the top of the street, near Beit Aghion, see frequent demonstrations. On Home Sublet you pay the rent and deposit straight to the host at the key handover, with no renter fees, on one condition: the landlord has agreed to the sublet.